Improvement in attaching paddle-wheels to canal-boats



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RIIUBEN JANE, OF OTEGO, NEV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT [N ATTACHING PADDLE-WHEELS T0 CANAL-BOATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,694, dated November .24, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN JANE, of the town of Otego, county of Otsego, in the State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Paddle-Wheel and the Mode of Attaching the Same to Canal-Boats, which, in connection with win gs on the sides of the boat, will effectually prevent the curre'nt of water from washing the banks'of the canal or other waters-a difficulty which has heretofore prevented the use of steam to propel boats on the canals or other waters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Thenature of m yin vention consists in hanging the wheel in the fore part of the boat, with the paddles so turned that it will throw the current of waterfrom the bow of the boat into or against the wings which turns the water in toward the sides of the boat at or near the back end or stern of the boat, and thus toapply the steam-engine to propel boats on the canals, and entirely obviates the damage to the banks of the canal heretofore preventing` the use of steam as a motive power to run boats on canals or other waters.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention,I will describe its construction and operation.

In the construction of my invention, in Figure l, A is the boat; B, the wheel; C, the shaft on which the paddlewheels are attached at each end of the same; E, the gear-wheel on the center of the shaft and which meshes into the gearwheel II', which is driven by the engine; F, the crank on the end of shaft G, to which I attach the piston-rods of the engine; M, adjustable wings; N, the slotted pivot vertical shaft on which the shaft C is hung, with bearings on each side of the slot; O, the lever for operating said vertical shaft; P, a guide to retain lever O in position; K, the rods attached on each side of the slot in shaft N and extending back to the rudder and operating the same; L, the rudder; l), the bearing for the upper end of the rudder; d, the lower bearing for the lower end of the same; D, upper bearing, and (l lower bearing of shaft N.

In Fig. 2, A is the boat; B, the paddlewheels; (1*,the shaft to which the paddle-wheels are attached; D, the plate acting as a bearing for the upper end of the vert-ical slotted shaft N; H, the main gear-wheel; F, the cranks attached to the shaft G; H, the pinion-wheel with shaft extending up to the deck of the boat; J, the racks into which the pinion-wheel operates to adjust the side wings or iaps; M, the wings; a, the bearings on which the racks J slide by means of the slots in them, and b the bearings for the upper end of the rudder. The rods connecting the shaftNwith the rudder are shown in dotted lines.

In Fig. 3, N is the vertical slotted shaft; C, the shaft to which are attached the paddlewheels; E, the gear-wheel for revolving the same; K, the rods for operating the rudder; D, the upper bearing of the shaft N, and d the lower bearing.

In the operation of my invention I place the whole arrangement for operating the boat in front of the same. The vertical shaft is set, as described, 011 bearings d below and bearing D above, and on these bearings it is allowed to turn and is operated by means of the lever O on the deck and bow of the boat. The shaft O is then arranged with bearings on the rear side of the slotted lever C, having gear-wheel E on its center hung within the slot in shaft N, and has the paddle-wheels B firmly secured at the ends of said shaft. The shaft C and gear-wheel E can be raised or lowered to suit the weight of the vessel. rl`he rods K are attached to the sides of the shaft N and extend back to the rudder to operate it. The shaft g has the gear-wheel Il also secured on its center and meshes into the gear-wheel E. To the ends of the shaft g are cranks F, to which is attached the piston-rods of the engine, and by which means the power is applied to the paddlewheels- Then the motion is applied, the paddle-wheels are put in motion by means of the gear-wheels H and E, the paddles operating on still water, which they continue to do, and by means of the peculiar twist given the arms of the wheel the water is thrown away from the bow of the boat, and as the boat is drawn over the agitated water it will, before it leaves the stern of the boat, be smoothed down and become entirely smooth. So in regard to the agitation given to the water sidewise, just as soon as it has passed the stern of the boat and before it falls on the sides of the same, the win gs M catch the water and eause it to pass between the Wings M and the sides of the boat, thus perfectly checking the agitation of the water and preventing it extending to the banks of the canal. These two advantages are gained by means of my invention, which two objections have been found to exist hitherto in all attempts to use steam as a motive power on oanals. It has always been found that the agitation of the water by the wheels has so agitated it that itlashed the sides of the Canal so as to injure it, and so disturbed the bottom as to injure it also'. These objections experience has fully demonstrated I have overcome by means of my invention. It will beifurther seen that by lneansrof the shaft C being hung onthe revolving vertical shaft N, I am able to guide the boat by means of the lever O, either with or without the rudder L, and its attachments-as set forth. rlhe slightest change of the shaft C will guide the boat to either the starboard or larboard sidewithout in the least diminishing its speed or deereas# ing its propelling power, so that the steering of the boat is done always by its propelling power. By means of the Vertical shaft C, o'n which the pinion I-I is attaehed,I operate the wings M, so that when'I am about to enter a look I slide the wings elose into the sides of the boat, so that I enter the loelr having no the water is smoothed down before it reaches the sides of thecanal, thus completely allaying all agitation'of the water after it has passed between the Wings M and the sides of the boat. As the vertical lever N is moved by means of the lever O the rods K operate the rudder L, which always operates in conformity with the change in the paddle-wheels. The gear-wheels E and II are so geared into eaeh other that whether the boat is running in a straight line Vor to either side they always mesh into eaeh other without inconvenience. n

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention, what YI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The vertical slotted shaft N, hung on a pivot on the bow of the boat, arranged in relation to the wheel-shaft C, to which is attaehed the twistedpaddles B, and gear-wheel E, for the purpose of drawing boats on canals, the., and which are putin motion by the engine by means of gear-wheel H', arranged as set forth.

REUBEN JANE.

Vitnesses:

'WM T. BRoADFooT, WM. A. QHAPMAN. 

